Buying Real Estate

[old_mate]

G'day

I'm currently saving a nice fat house deposit and am looking to buy later this year, Brisbane Southside. Typically, when someone is selling a house, how much fat can i expect there to be on the price? Im not looking into anything fancy, something around mid 300k, but say if a place is typically advertised for 375k, would I have a shot if i offered 350k? i know all situations are different, but im keen as to hear peoples experiences. thanks.

[Casper]

We just bought a house this month, we got it for $24K under listed price on our first offer so yes, in our case there was a LOT of fat. (this was Melbourne though, market has bottomed out)

[JefXR8]

in this market there could be anything up to $50,000 to be negotiated with i rekon!
Never be scared of making a rediculous offer you can always go up cant go back down!

[JADED6]

Plenty of interested buyers & offers being made for the properties we are looking at and ALL are going over what they're asking.
Bit hard when they have a range of say 230k to 285k for the 1 property. The 230, just to get people in the door when they know it'll sell for more.

Should really start another thread but generally, what do building inspections cost? Seen the dodgey ones on ACA & today tonight etc. Agent we spoke to said on average, 50% of people get them?
A property we are keen on had a thorough inspection done just over 4 years ago and the agent said we can photocopy that. The report looks to be quite large but nothing wrong with the property.

[Casper]

Building inspection, about $640 as of 2 weeks ago :(

[GXL078]

Building inspections regularly miss things.

Don't buy ANYTHING strata, ever. Greatest con there ever was.

[Racecraft]

it really depends on the circumstance of the people selling.. My place the old fellow needed $xxx xxx to clear his debts so obvoiusly that was his bottom line.. BUT it turned into a bidding war between 3 of us so the price went well above that and even more than the listed price unfortunately.. If the place is still occupied I recommend a coffee visit with the owners to cut the real estate agent out of the loop a touch.. Provided they are reasonable people of course

THe other side is that a mate just bought at Runcorn and the owner had already bought his new place so he haggled him down 20k off list price because they needed the money asap..

[capriv8]

Offer at least 10% less than the asking price you never know the sellers reason for selling. You may have to haggle after, if you really want the property or sometimes you may just get lucky with a seller that really needs a sale right away. We got a block of land here in Perth asking price $449.000 for $400.000 on our first offer, one year later its now valued at $522.000 and we are about to build a house with a few extras.

[Outbackjack]

Here is what I do. I have bought 11 properties over the last 6 years. First of all any offer should be conditional on title searches, biulding inspection, and finance approval. If the house was on the market for 350K I would open with an offer of 295K. If the sellers are serious about selling they will come back with a counter offer. I would then, if I wanted the property take about 15% of this amount, but only if they countered with a realistic offer. To be honest, I have done the sums, and there is much more profit in buying a block of land and building a house. Much more stress as well, but worth it in the long run. At the moment I am part way through a house in Yea Victoria. But this will be sold ASAP to avoid her' brax's land taxes. Be ruthless.

Good luck.

[atec77]

Originally Posted by old_mate

G'day

I'm currently saving a nice fat house deposit and am looking to buy later this year, Brisbane Southside. Typically, when someone is selling a house, how much fat can i expect there to be on the price? Im not looking into anything fancy, something around mid 300k, but say if a place is typically advertised for 375k, would I have a shot if i offered 350k? i know all situations are different, but im keen as to hear peoples experiences. thanks.

If you can get a reduction of 3 to 5% you are doing wondefully , finance is easy to get , there are few rentals and thousands are arriving everyday from the south , which suburb as that may have a bearing and remember worst house best street .
good luck

[pauljh74]

Originally Posted by JADED6

Plenty of interested buyers & offers being made for the properties we are looking at and ALL are going over what they're asking.
Bit hard when they have a range of say 230k to 285k for the 1 property. The 230, just to get people in the door when they know it'll sell for more.

Should really start another thread but generally, what do building inspections cost? Seen the dodgey ones on ACA & today tonight etc. Agent we spoke to said on average, 50% of people get them?
A property we are keen on had a thorough inspection done just over 4 years ago and the agent said we can photocopy that. The report looks to be quite large but nothing wrong with the property.

Depends on the size of the house - it was almost $500 for a 2 bedroom unit I just bought - the other thing is to get a termite inspection - it might cost $200-$300, but that's better than the $$$$ it will cost to fix it if you find out after you buy it it is infested.

Dropping 10% below the asking price is probably a good bet, if the asking price is fair. I was going to offer $10,000-$15,000 less than the asking price on a $179,000 property, then found something better. The one I did buy was listed at $175,000+ and only 3 years old. If I offered $175,000, they would have said no and it would have gone to auction. I knew the real asking price was closer to $200,000 and offered $190,000 1 month before auction and then $193,000 and got it. At auction, $200,000 would have been a real possibility.

[Mechan1k]

Was lucky when I bought my place ... the owners needed to sell it ... so they dropped the price by $100,000 ... and then we knocked it down another $50,000.

Agree about the building inspections missing a lot of things ... including the pest inspector missing the issue with termites on the property (that has been sorted though ... no drama).

After a bit of rennovating here and there ... fence repairing and vegetation regeneration along with cleaning paddocks up. The property value has increased dramatically the last time we got it valued.

[JADED6]

Asking prices here are in quite a range though so it makes it a bit hard to guage.
The offer sheets they hand out ask you for "your final, highest & best offer" which is ridiculous. As mentioned above, you can always go up.

[Mechan1k]

It depends where you live though ... and the cost of the property as well.

I really don't know how people can afford some places ... Sydney "averages" are ridiculous indeed.

I moved a little further out ... I am about 1.5 hours out from Sydney CBD .... I moved onto 10 acres with a dual-occupancy house for $870,000. Split it in half and you have a full house on 5 acres for $435,000. No where in Sydney you can get that sort of property.

I have lived closer to the city and it is really crap ... I hated it.

I still have to larger town centres within 5-10 minutes drive from home (Richmond/Windsor) .. and other majnor centres within 20 minutes away. I still travel to and from Chatswood for work and am used to the drive (gotta love shiftwork and travelling times).

End of the day i am away from the rat-race and out in the peace and quiet at home where the air is clear and clean ... and it's nice and quiet.

I'd never live in the metro area again ... it's horrible.

[normxb]

"How long is a piece of string" ?

A lot depends on the reason for the Vendor selling ,

Originally Posted by jefxr8

Never be scared of making a ridiculous offer you can always go up , you can't go back down!

I know this may be the exception to the rule and going back a few years , but my mate was looking in Kurrajong area (NSW) , 5 acres , 5 bed/rumpus room , pool , 2 large sheds , was advertised at $410,000 .

Vendor NEEDED to sell because of divorce settlement , he thought "I'll offer something stupid , $330,000 " , the answer came back , Ok (while picking himself up off the floor ....) so it's worth checking into why the people are selling .

Mechan1k you would know what the values are worth up there now , they've "gone through the roof" , probably worth round the $1M area .

As others said , make it conditional on searches , inspections Etc. Do your own as well , not all the time you can trust the vendors inspections . No strata stuff , can be heaps of problems .

Join "Residex" ( I think that's their name ) and find an area where prices are on the increase ,they will tell you what properties are selling for in the area you are thinking of , also as has been mentioned "worst house in the best street" and don't be in a hurry .

I know this might not be a good example , but same guy as above & I bought an old rundown house in our town 3 years ago , advertised at $44k , offered $35k , vendor came back with $37,500 , our "Block of Land" 6 months later was worth $82k (house is worth nothing) .

As I mentioned in another thread , try and pay WEEKLY , huge savings can be made in interest . Do your sums & don't go in too deep and take it over the longest period the Lender will allow .

Outbackjack , you are a very wise person , 1st purchase is the hardest , after that each one gets easier (I think) better than any "shares portfolio" they can go bang overnight .

Sorry for the long "Rave" but I hope this will help you , even if it's just a little bit .

Cheers
Norm

Edit : Mechan1k , you were posting as I was , Lol , but I think your property could be worth a little more , I hope so . Specially now Windsor is getting so accessible

[Mechan1k]

The hard thing is ... there aren't many properties like ours to compare pricing ... so it was difficult for the valuers to figure it out (as it's a decent dual-occ place ... 3 bed/1 bath/kitchen/laundry - 4 bed/2 bath/kitch/laundry ... then there is a 2 car garage ... and a 2 car garage/shed as well. 9 or my 10 acres is arable as well.

But not many dual-occs around to compare (the ones i have seen have been in rundown state ... there is one that has less arable land ... but the dwelling is larger and looks newer/nicer ... and that was recently on the market for $1.3M.

Although now the internals of both side of our place are brand new as we gutted it and started a fresh (as it needed it).

We are not looking at selling it for a long time ... Hoping to stay there for as long as possible ... time will tell though with land prices. For the moment they have halted a bit ... but they will rise again.

[Mechan1k]

Originally Posted by normxb

Edit : Mechan1k , you were posting as I was , Lol , but I think your property could be worth a little more , I hope so . Specially now Windsor is getting so accessible

Rouse Hill Westfield is going to be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere as we speak ... it's going up so quickly ... the bus T-way has just been finished from Rouse Hill to Westmead.

Windsor and Richmond have been putting in new shopping areas ... and there looks like there might be a freeway across the mountains (taking over Bells Line of Rd).

So it is starting to really develop in the area ... Windsor Rd widening is just about finished as well .... and then there McGraths Hill which is getting more and more industrialised. I think there will be more residential areas being built as well.

I am still on Tank Water ... but Town Water is just around the corner at Glossodia (2ndOwner is around this area as well).

[normxb]

Mechan1k , you've made a good purchase , very wise move , like you said "stay as long as possible" . With all the progress going on around there , there's only one thing that's going to happen to your property value " and that's go up "

Close to Sydney & Country living . Best of both worlds .
(Mate used to live in Quakers Hill , now is in East Kurrajong Rd & his business is in Kings Park)

Yep , heard about Bells Line of Road .

[GXL078]

I moved a little further out ... I am about 1.5 hours out from Sydney CBD .... I moved onto 10 acres with a dual-occupancy house for $870,000. Split it in half and you have a full house on 5 acres for $435,000. No where in Sydney you can get that sort of property.

(Christ, how do you afford an $870,000 property?)

Mate used to live in Quakers Hill , now is in East Kurrajong Rd & his business is in Kings Park

(Quaker's Hill is a whole lot handier to Kings Park then East Kurrajong is)

[Pedro]

old mate, just google your headline and you will find lots of sites offering advice for first home buyers ... click on this one as an example... http://www.domain.com.au/Public/Arti...with%20agents?

[Mechan1k]

Originally Posted by xcgxl

I moved a little further out ... I am about 1.5 hours out from Sydney CBD .... I moved onto 10 acres with a dual-occupancy house for $870,000. Split it in half and you have a full house on 5 acres for $435,000. No where in Sydney you can get that sort of property.

(Christ, how do you afford an $870,000 property?)

Mate used to live in Quakers Hill , now is in East Kurrajong Rd & his business is in Kings Park

(Quaker's Hill is a whole lot handier to Kings Park then East Kurrajong is)

Ahhhh ... Wife's Brother and his wife live in the other side of the place ... and they work as well.

It's all good ... everything is split down the middle and works out well ... we all put in for things that need doing on the property ... and it's good when work needs to be done as there are extra hands on deck too.

They have just had a little girl ... and we are there to help them as well when it comes to babysitting .... we are looking at starting a family as well ... and we know they will be there to help when needed.

It works out well for us .... the travelling is longer I know (but iver the years i have been used to travelling for an hour or more anyway (as I used to live in Camden).

Our nearest neighbours are like 200-300m away as well ... so we have our space too ... plus Bec has horses too so it allows her to keep them (agistment is expensive in suburbia).

Did i mention peace and quiet ... hee hee.

If you can get the opportunity to get out of the metro area ... do it. :

[GXL078]

My sister used to keep her horse in a paddock at Matraville, 8Km from the centre of Sydney. I think she paid $10 or $15 per week. She sold him when she moved OS.

[Mechan1k]

She was lucky ... some people pay nearly $60 a week to have a horse on a small paddock with no grass ... or they resort to agisting in the Western Suburbs (my inlaws do agistment at Eastern Creek) ... and then travel to see/feed/ride their horse.

Most agistment places don't even allow riding either (due to the cost of liability insurance costs).

[TURBOTAXI]

Been through 8 purchases since 2001, NEVER paid anything close to 90% of asking price.

Paid as little as $23,000 (ask was $89k)for a three bed house been getting 20%+ for it ever since.

People nor mally sell for a reason and fear of loss is your tool.

If you dont have skills get a buyers agent, or use a sunset clause.

[normxb]

Originally Posted by xcgxl

(Quaker's Hill is a whole lot handier to Kings Park then East Kurrajong is)

Yep , you're right , but 5 acres and overlooking a peaceful valley is much better than a "Sea of Roof's" , and now the roads are just about finished near Windsor It's not a bad run and Quakers is nearly nonstop traffic now and it was a 630 Sq m block.

Originally Posted by Mechan1k

Did i mention peace and quiet ... hee hee.
If you can get the opportunity to get out of the metro area ... do it.

Mechan1k lives just up the road from my mate , and did we mention peace & quiet , Hehehe

[xbcool]

Originally Posted by xcgxl

Building inspections regularly miss things.

Don't buy ANYTHING strata, ever. Greatest con there ever was.

my wife and I have almost paid off our 1st home and are thinking about a investment property.
what is strata? and what is the great con?

thanks steve

[GXL078]

Strata is what all units and most townhouses come under. You own the space between the walls of your unit and a share in the building and common property. You have to pay strata fees, for the maintenance and up keep. It is exponentially worse if the complex has a pool and or a lift of other facilities. Strata fees (levies) also cover building insurance and public liability.

The con is you get a manager who takes your money plus GST every quarter and they have tradesmen that they contract work out to. Instead of getting a discount rate, everything is double or triple market rates because it is strata. You end up living surounded by renters who stuff everything and the owners corporation or their insurance has to pay to fix it. I had to have a sheet and a half of gyprock replaced in my garage and the cost was $1800. Dont worry, its covered by insurance, but the two Russians that did it got paid pretty well.

Being on the comittee and having to deal with renters, sworn at when you try to enforce by laws. We have feral maoris who block our garage so we can't get in or out and then threaten us with their "black belt" when we ask them to move the cars. They have a double garage that is full of furniture.

Next door threatened violence because I told him he couldnt put his air conditioner on the balcony facing the common driveway, he had to put it on his back wall like everyone else. He was allowed to keep it and said I was unfit to be on the commitee because I am a racist. He is renting, does not work and has has 4 kids living in a 3 bedroom townhouse. Another has 7 people living in it.

A group of their kids reguarly meet in the driveway after school and play handball and make heaps of noise which is against the strata rules. Try telling these people that it is unsafe for their kids to play in the driveway and they say "you are a mean man, you don't have any children". The other owners are no help, they never turn up to meetings, but despite speaking no English they manage to get the strata manager to pay to fix things on their units like showers that should come out of their own pocket.

A townhouse seemed like a good ideas when I was single but a house woul be better, but you still can't control who moves in next door. Houses and duplexes are Torrens title, which means you only pay council rates and have to organise your own insurance and maintenance. But no $1200 PLUS a year fees.

And anytime something has to be done there are extra special levies to pay. My wifes unit has had the roof redone, $5000 each special levy and at the moment is having new drainage put in $8500 each unit for 39 units. There are engineers reports to pay etc that cost thousands. Strata is one big RIP OFF. sure you can shop around but they all collude and bump their prices up whan they know its strata.

And then there are the building defects caused by Lebanese "builders" self certifying and bribing their way through their incompetence. Their building licenses ar BOUGHT, not earned from family who have infiltrated the 'system'. Yes, I am not at all happy about this. Another word of advice: Don't employ a builder, buy a house thats already built, that you can see and touch and get it inspected. The inspection might not be worth the paper its written on but at least its a start. These builders can bribe or 'recommend' an inspector as well .

[xbcool]

ok now have a happy ill and lie down, lol
I had no idea some of the crap that comes with strata ,I know renting a house has problems due to people not caring, but at least with the amount of people renting you can screen tenents to hopefully weed out the bad ones.

[GXL078]

Originally Posted by xbcool

ok now have a happy ill and lie down, lol
I had no idea some of the crap that comes with strata ,I know renting a house has problems due to people not caring, but at least with the amount of people renting you can screen tenents to hopefully weed out the bad ones.

LJ Hooker don't screen them well enough. When you try to talk to a property manager they wont come to the phone unless you tell them first you have unit to rent.

[old_mate]

UPDATE. Signed a contract on a 4brm place last night. paid a bit over 300k for it, but its a really big house. small block but, 600m square, im going to struggle to fit a titan for the XY but we'll see. First house at 22. Not bad i reckon. Now to suss out how to buy a BF turbo ute without it ruining me